Using Topography Statistics to Help Phase Unwrapping

Using Topography Statistics to Help Phase Unwrapping A. Monti Guarnieri Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione - Politecnico di Milano Piazza Leon...
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Using Topography Statistics to Help Phase Unwrapping A. Monti Guarnieri Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione - Politecnico di Milano Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32 - 20133 Milano - Italy fax: +39-02-23993413, e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract Conventional techniques approach Phase Unwrapping (PU) as an optimization problem, where figures of merit like the total branch-cut length, the number of cuts, etc, is to be minimized. They disregard the properties of the field to be unwrapped: the topography, i.e. the DEM, projected in the SAR reference. The purpose of the paper is to fill in this gap by providing statistics of the “fringe maps”. We first exploit the Woodward theorem to link the interferogram Power Spectrum Density (PSD) with the Probability Density Function (PDF) of the Phase Gradient that would result in a likely topography. A parametric model of the expected, unwrapped PG PDF is then derived by exploiting the fractal properties of topography. Its parameters can be accurately estimated given the wrapped PG. This model provides useful statistic information for phase unwrapping. It is then possible, for example: (a) to estimate the number of residuals; (b) to find the best azimuth presumming factor and, (c), to find the optimal interferogram range demodulation. Finally, we exploit the second order statistics of the PG field (as a fractal) to derive a suitable approximation for the expected length of the branch cuts.

Introduction In this paper we provide hints in phase unwrapping intended mainly for DEM generation, where the final product is a medium resolution DEM, let us say sampled at 20 × 20 m. We will then refer mainly to the current and future space-borne SAR sensors like ERS, ENVISAT, TERRASAR, etc. An example of such interferometric systems is provided in the simplified Interferometric SAR geometry of Fig. 2. As is widely known, an interferogram, like the one shown in Fig. 1 is achieved be taking the Hermitian product of the images acquired, either simultaneously by two sensors, or in by the same sensor in two repeat passes and properly coregistered [1, 2, 3, phase of the 4]. The − −−−→ 4π −−−−→ interferogram, shown in the figure, depends locally on the sensor-path distance: ψ(x, y) = λ S1 − P − S2 − P , and provides information on the pixel elevation, hence the topography. The generation of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM ) is then possible, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, provided that the phase ambiguity is solved. The aim of Phase Unwrapping (PU ) consists in recovering the integer number of cycles n to be added to the ambiguous, wrapped phase φ, to obtain the unambiguous phase ψ: ψ = φ + 2πn, henceforth the pixel location. In a general case, where no a priori information on ψ is available, phase unwrapping is an ill-posed inverse problem: an infinite number of different solutions can be found, all honouring the data. The problem has originated a very wide literature, where PU algorithms have been developed, basing on some a-priori assumptions and trying to condition the problem in order to reconstruct a smooth phase field. A comprehensive summary of these techniques is provided in reference [5]. Even though some effort has been made to link the solution of PU to the properties of earth topography, [6], the specific features of the actual signal to be unwrapped, i.e. the DEM projected in the SAR reference, are usually ignored. As a matter of fact, any phase field is assumed ”reasonable”, provided that it is smooth [5]. This paper motivates from this assert, and shows how the properties of earth topography, that are known since early fifties ([7], 1951), and more recently captured into statistics by Multi-Fractal Fields (M F F ) provides stringent constraints in the solution of P U that would prevent ”any” smooth field to be a consistent solution. This paper is based on the results achieved in reference [8], where it is shown that the M F F can be exploited to provide a robust and quite accurate parametric model of the probability density of the unwrapped phase gradient in a SAR interferogram (PG-PDF ): these results are summarized in section 1. The model is then applied to phase unwrapping by extending it to the realistic case of a noisy interferogram. Thereafter, it is shown how such model 1

can be exploited to estimate: (a) the density of singular points and, (b) the average cut length. This statistics are of primary importance in PU as they condition the solution. The role of the paper is to show that a proper PU should achieve an average number of singular points (and cut length) consistent with them local topography, opposite to the common assumptions that tends to minimize both cut length and residues. The force of the proposed approach relies in the robustness of the parametric fractal model that provides an accurate estimate of unwrapped phase gradient statistics even though the data explored are noisy and wrapped. Finally, it is shown how two optimize two pre-processing steps, namely the interferogram flattening and multilooking. In practice the multi-look factor and the flattening frequency are optimized to minimize the probability of aliasing that can be estimated basing on the fractal model. As a quite interesting result, it is shown that the number of singular points can be halved if the optimal flattening is exploited. Not surprisingly, it comes out that this flattening imposes the most likely phase gradient to be different from zero in many cases of mountainous topography, or for large baselines.

Figure 1: Above: simulated interferogram of Mt. Vesuvius, by assuming ERS-ENVISAT geometry. Below: (left) the DEM used for the simulation, (right) the DEM can be approximated locally as a complex sinusoid. A list of acronyms used throughout the whole paper is in table 1.

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Figure 2: Simplified InSAR geometry.

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Name DEM InSAR P RF P DF PG P SD PU SN R UMF

Definition Digital Elevation Model Interferometric SAR Pulse Repetition Frequency Probability Density Function Phase Gradient Power Spectrum Density Phase Unwrapping Signal to Noise Ratio Universal Multi Fractal

Table 1: Acronyms and parameters adopted in the paper.

1

Ground slopes versus SAR PG

Our proposed approach is definitely to provides statistics information to PU that varies on a local scale: we may exploit, for example, patches1 no larger than 10 × 10 km. Within such extent, we may well ignore the earth curvature and assume parallel orbits, like in the simplified InSAR geometry of Fig. 2. We will ignore squint angles and assume perfect yaw steering (ERS, ENVISAT etc). The figure introduces the definition of: -the ground reference, used to define the topography, and identified by the coordinate (x, y) oriented with x parallel to the orbit (azimuth), and y cross-track (ground range), - the SAR reference (x, r) where azimuth is parallel to the ground, that defines the space of the complex interferogram, - the ”normal baseline” Bn ' ∆θ/R0 , i.e. the displacement of the two sensors normal to the view angle, were θ, θ + ∆θ are the incidence angles of the two sensors. We furthermore assume that, within the extents of a few pixels, the terrain slope is approximately constant, so that we get a linear phase contribution to the complex interferogram, as shown in Fig. 1. The interferogram is then a stationary frequency modulated process [9], whose local frequencies are related to the ground slopes by the following expressions (derived in [8]): ∆φx kB vs dx =− 2π sin θ − cos θdy 1 + dy tan θ ∆φr = −hB ∆fr = 2π tan θ − dy 2f0 Bn f0 Bn where kB = and hB = c R0 R0 ∆fx =

(1) (2)

where dx, dy are the two components of the height gradient. For such frequency modulated processes we can invoke Woodward’s theorem [10, 11], that links the interferogram P SD to the instantaneous frequencies PDF by: S(∆f ) = S(∆φ/ (2π)) ∝ f∆fx ,∆fr (∆fx , ∆fr )

(3)

where ∆f and ∆φ represents the vectors of local frequencies and phase gradients.

1.1

Phase gradient probability distributions

Woodward theorem (3), can be exploited both in range and in azimuth to provide the PDF of the gradient as a function ground slopes PDF. We recall here the expressions derived in reference [8]. 1 This

approach is commonly adopted in literature (see for example [6]).

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For the range case, the range frequency PDF is the following: 1 + tan2 θ

f∆fr (∆fr ) = k

2

(∆fr /hB − tan θ) · fdy (dy ) |sin(θ − atan(dy )|

where dy (∆fr ) =

(4)

1 + ∆fr /hB tan θ ∆fr /hB − tan θ

k being a proportionality constant, computed by imposing unitary area. The range PG PDF is then obtained by the linear transformation (2)   ∆φr fs f∆φr (∆φr ) = f∆fr (5) 2π/fs 2π An example achieved by simulating an interferogram from a real DEM is provided in Fig. 3 that shows the PG histogram, measured on the non-wrapped interferogram phase, and compared with the PDF of the ground slopes stretched by the transformation (4,5). The two plots fit quite well, except for the contributes layovered or shadowed (indeed a minor number of pixels in the image), that were not handled by the model (4).

Range PG 1

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bn = 150 m bn = 200 m bn = 250 m 0

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Figure 3: Comparison between the range PG PDF, measured on a synthetic (non wrapped) interferograms phase (area of Naples) and its approximation, derived by transforming the range slope PDF.

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The azimuth case is quite more complicated to handle, as the azimuth components of the slopes in the SAR reference depend both on the along track and the across track slope on the ground. This is due to the foreshortening, that shifts an azimuth sloped terrain in the direction of the sensor (for ascending slopes). The azimuth frequency PDF is the following: Z fdx ,dy (dx , dy ) |sin θ − arctan dy | ·

f∆fx (∆fx ) =

· |dy (∆fx , W ) − tan θ| dW where W = kB vs cos θ (dy − tan θ)

(6)

This expression, like that of the range frequency PDF, needs to be computed numerically, basing on the 2D histogram of ground slopes, fdx ,dy (dx , dy ). The azimuth PG PDF (non-wrapped) is obtained by applying a transformation identical to (5).

1.2

Multi-Fractal Modelling

The capability of fractals in modelling topography is due to their feature of capturing the scale invariance of the height gradient: H d ∆hn = λ−n ∆h0 (7) d

where = means equal in probability, H is constant, and λ−n is the resolution at which the gradient ∆h is measured. As the integer n increases, the scale λ−n gets finer and finer, however the gradient at that scale ∆hn = h(x + ∆x/λ−n ) − h(x) conserves its statistics, hence accounting for roughness in topography. This self-scaling, or self similarity, is responsible of the power-law shape of the field PSD: Sε (f ) ∝ f −β , already assessed by Kolmogorv in the case of turbulence. A generalization of such mono-fractals is provided by Multi-Fractal-Fields (M F F ), first introduced in [12], where the scale invariance property (7) is admitted to change its behaviour at different scales, or, in other words, the logarithm of gradient PDF, log(Sε (f )) may have different slopes. Synthetic DEM can be generated by integrating a stocastic gradient, a M F F , as shown in Fig. 4. The M F F is supposed to be generated by a large number of independent multiplicative stages (cascade process), each of them acting at a different scale. We expect, for the central limit theorem for products [10], that the M F F (see Fig. 4), is log-Normal distributed. Shertzer demonstrated that the M F F P DF is log-L´ evy: a family of P DF that generalize the log-Normal one: fh (h) = logLα,n,µ (h) =

(8)

Lα,n,µ (x)|x=log h h

h>0

(9)

Lα,n,µ (x) being the L´ evy P DF, whose characteristic function is known in closed form expression [13]:    1 − |1 − α| α L(ω) = exp −n |ω| exp j sign(ω) · 4 · exp(jωµ),

0 ≤ α ≤ 2,

(10)

n≥0

The close resemblance between a M F F and the topographic height gradient leads to the assumption that this last is log-L´ evy distributed [14]:. f|d| (∆h) = logLα,n,µ (∆h) It is shown in [8] that this is indeed the case, and the link between the parameters α, n, µ and the local topography is discussed there.

1.3

Ground slopes PDF

The MFF model of gradient has been exploited to derive the model of the PG-PDF in range and azimuth in [8].

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Figure 4: Universal Multi Fractal Field (above), and the result after fractional integration (below). This stochastic fractal provides a realistic DEM resemblance.

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The distribution of ground slopes along any direction, e.g. the projection of the gradient on the generic axis: d = |d| cos θ, has been derived in [8]: Z ∞ 1 fd (d) = logLα,n,µ (y) p dy (11) 2 π y − d2 |d| This expression is to be used in (4) for modelling range PG-PDF, just e.g. by inserting (11) into (4). The azimuth PG-PDF, in (6) requires the 2D PDF of ground terrain slopes, (see [8]): q q  d2x + d2y fdx, dy (dx , dy ) = logLα,n,µ d2x + d2y 2π

1.4

(12)

Parametric model for PG-PDF

The expressions (4,6) of the PG PDF need to be combined with the fractal models of terrain slopes, (11, 12) to provide a parametric model of PG PDF. The simplest way to estimate the values of the parameters involved: (α, n, µ), is just by imposing a fit of the model with the estimated interferogram PSD, i.e. the Woodward theorem (3) as discussed in [8]. As an example, Fig 7 plots the PG PDF retrieved by a (wrapped) synthetic interferogram and compared with the true one, estimated by the known unwrapped fringes (area of Mt. Vesuvius). It is quite important to stress the fact that the interferogram PSD is known up to the Nyquist frequency (with some alias), whereas the parametric model is capable to predict the probability of unwrapped PG values. The capability of the model to fit the real case for a very wide dynamic range is essential for the application proposed, since the error probabilities are influenced by the tails of the distributions shown in the figure.

2

Phase unwrapping

Let us come back to the PU problem already introduced: we need to recover the integer number of cycles n to be added to the wrapped phase φ to get the unambiguous phase value ψ: ψ = φ + 2π · n. We already stated that, in absence of a priori information about φ, we get an ill-posed inverse problem (infinite solutions). Almost all the PU algorithms assume smooth phases, hence the neighbouring the uwrapped field is supposed to varies less than π radians form one pixel to another. Though this hypothesis is often valid for most of the image pixels, the presence of phase discontinuities (i.e. absolute phase variations between neighbouring pixels greater than π radians) prevents one from using the most straightforward PU procedure: a simple integration of the phase differences, starting from a reference point. In fact, phase discontinuities generate inconsistencies, since integration yields different results depending on the path followed. This feature is evident whenever the sum of the wrapped phase differences (the integral of the estimated phase gradient) around a closed path differs from zero. To be consistent a gradient field must be irrotational; i.e. the curl of ∇φ should be zero everywhere [5]. Whenever this condition is verified all over the interferogram we face the “trivial PU problem”. Unfortunately, this is never the case in InSAR data processing. The rotational component of the gradient field can be easily estimated summing the wrapped phase differences around the closed paths formed by each mutually neighbouring set of four pixels. Whenever the sum is not zero a residue is said to occur [1]. Its value is usually normalized to one cycle and it can be either positive (+1) or negative (-1). The summation of the wrapped phase variations along an arbitrary closed path equals the algebraic sum of the residues enclosed in the path. An example is provided in Fig.5: notice that the residues, marked in Fig. 5.c, mark the endpoints of the “discontinuities lines”. The true problem is then their complete identification. Discontinuities are essentially due to two independent factors: (1) phase noise; (2) steep terrain slopes. In Fig. 5, only a pair of residues is due to ”topography”, whereas all the other, due to noise, are quite distinguishable are they are close together. The most demanding problem in phase unwrapping is to find out the correct ”ghost line” that connect each pair of residues. In usual phase unwrapping scheme, different strategies have been followed and different algorithms have been developed. In practice, almost all PU algorithms seek to minimize the following cost function:

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Figure 5: Residues due to noise and phase unwrapping. The pyramid in (a) has been converted into wrapped phases, and then noise was superimposed. The resulting interferogram has then been filtered, giving the phases in (b). The residues have then been identified and marked as black / white pixels in (c) (depending on the sign). The sole two residues due to topography are evidenced by arrows, all the other residues are due to noise and appear in close pairs (one of these pairs has been marked by a white circle).

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C=

X

p (r) wi,j ∆(r) ψi,j − ∆(r) w φi,j

(13)

i,j

+

X

p (a) wi,j ∆(a) ψij − ∆(a) φ w i,j

i,j

where 0≤p≤2, ∆ indicates discrete differentiation along range (r) and (a) azimuth direction respectively, w are user-defined weights and the summations including all appropriate rows i and column j. The suffix w to the differentiation operator ∆ indicates that the phase differences are wrapped in the interval +π−π. We stress that this objective function has not been obtained from a theoretical analysis or a statistical description of a topographic phase signal in SAR coordinates. It is just a reasonable translation in mathematical terms of our basic assumption: ∆ψ = ∆w φ almost everywhere.

2.1

Phase unwrapping and topography statistics

The fundamental expression (13) turns the PU problem into an optimization problem, where the cost to minimized (C), can be either the total length of ghost lines (norm p = 0), or the total ”charge”, amount of 2π (norm p=1). In this sense, it is common assumption in PU that several solutions can be obtained, all consistent with the wrapped data, and, apparently none of them ”better” than the other. We will show here that this assumption is untrue, as the local topography constraints the admissible solution. In particular, we will derive here: (1) the total number of residuals, and (2) the expected length of ghost lines. None of these two figures is to be minimized at any cost, but rather dimensioned according to the ”fractal” parameters. As an example, Fig. 6 shows the residues in an interferogram simulated by exploiting a DEM of Mt. Etna, and the correct location of the ghost lines. In a ”blind” PU approach, like the one derived from (13), the correct solution would not be found as it does not minimize the total cut length, nor the total charge.

Figure 6: (Left): the circles mark residues (or group of residues) measured on an interferogram simulated form the true DEM of Mt. Etna. (Right): the correct location of the ghost lines, as would appear on the unwrapped phase. The correct direction and length of ghost lines can be found only by accounting for topography statistics. Let us first compute the occurrence of residues in the noiseless case, e.g. in presence of topographic effects only. We need to compute the probability: P (|∆φ − ∆φf | > π) or P (∆φ − ∆φf > π) + P (∆φ − ∆φf < −π)

(14)

by integrating the PG-PDF: (5) for azimuth and (4) for range. The term ∆φf , in (14), have been inserted to account for the proper ”flattening”, in range direction, that will be discussed later: we may assume here that ∆φf corresponds to the P G of flat terrain. An example of the PG-PDF is shown in Fig. 7, that compares the histogram of the unwrapped phase gradient, achieved by exploiting the DEM of Mt. Vesuvius, and the model fitted by exploiting a highly correlated interferogram (may be multi-look averaged). The model is enough robust to provide a good fit of the histogram tails, hence an estimate of the aliasing probability (the shaded areas in the figure). This area provides the number of residuals due to topography, to account for in the cost C of (13). 10

Figure 7: Plots of the PG PDF measured on a synthetic fringe pattern of the Mt. Vesuvius (ERS InSAR geometry), compared with its parametric estimate derived by the (wrapped) interferogram, continuous line. The PG in the horizontal axis has been compensated for flat earth. The shaded areas measure the probability of aliasing. The PG values on the far left corresponds to layover.

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2.2

The noisy case

Up to now, we have assumed that the interferogram SNR is enough large that the residues due to noise can be easily removed, like in the example shown in 5. In that case, all those residues appears in pairs of opposite sign close together. Notice however that the only two residues depending on topography (evidenced by the arrow), are quite far apart. We will estimate in the following section the average of that distance in a topographic context. In the case or repeat pass interferometry we have to accounts for decorrelation sources, mostly due to temporal changes. The effect of such noise on the phase of the interferogram has been studied under the assumption of a constant slope[3]: we approximate the PDF there drawn as Normal PDF: N(o,σn ), where σn is the variance of phase noise and can be estimated from the coherence. The superposition of phase noise due to decorrelation and phase contribution due to the topography results in the convolution of the two PDF. This convolution smears the peak of the PG-PDF in Fig. 7, hence increases the probability of aliasing, particularly in correspondence of the steepest gradients. As an example the PG PDF for different SNRs has been computed by adding noise to a set of simulated InSAR acquisition, and is plotted in Fig. 8. Notice how the effect of noise is much more sensitive for the small and medium PG values, depending also on the peakedness of the PDF, hence on the baseline. The PG-PDF derived in such noisy environment, can be exploited to estimate the average number of residues, according to (14), and then inserted into the kernel of PU by providing the best estimate of the cost C in (13).

2.3

Interferogram flattening

Flattening is commonly implemented as a preliminary step to phase unwrapping (see for reference [1, 5, 3, 4]). The rationale of such approach lies in the statement that the most probable gradient in topography is zero. The aim of flattening is definitely to reduce the probability of aliasing, P (|∆φ−∆φf | > π) in (14). Unfortunately two misleading assumptions make such approach not at all optimal: (1) it is not true that the most probable topographic gradient is zero (it is demonstrated in [8] for mountainous topographies); (2) the mapping between ground slopes and slopes in the SAR slant range reference is not linear, but rather strongly asymmetric. This mapping causes an asymmetry in the shape of the P G − P DF , and moreover shifts its center in the direction of the backslopes as appears from Fig. 7. The optimal flattening, in the noisy environment just discussed, consists in finding the value ∆φf , that minimizes the aliasing probability (14), the shaded areas in Figs. 7 and 8. This would require in turn the proper parametric model of the unwrapped PG-PDF, discussed in section 1.4. The marked asymmetry of the plots makes flattening to be variant basing on the local topography, besides the baseline and noise, whose mean power can be retrieved by coherence measures. An example of the improvements that can be achieved by the optimal flattening is drawn in Fig. 9 that plots the probability of aliasing in the case of “conventional” flat earth compensation and for the optimal flattening here proposed. Notice that the conventional approach may be optimal in some cases, however, the proper “flattening” can reduce the aliasing probability up to 50%.

2.4

Optimal azimuth averaging

Conventionally, interferograms are averaged in azimuth (complex multi-look), as azimuth resolution is finer than range. The main intent of averaging is to improve SNR, thus reducing the probability of PG aliasing. However, the reduction of azimuth sampling will proportionally scale the PG PDF, leading to a possible increase in the aliasing probability. Clearly, an optimal azimuth “presumming” ratio is to be found, depending on the average topography, the acquisition geometry and the SNR. Here again, an optimization can be performed once that the azimuth PG PDF can be suitable modelled. The result of such optimization is plotted in Fig. 10 that shows the probability of PG aliasing as a function of azimuth presumming ratio: a SNR=0 dB was assumed and different baselines were tested (area of Naples). Notice that the proper presumming of a factor 2-5 is quite effective in reducing the PG PDF.

2.5

Average cut length and direction

Current PU techniques are designed to provide the minimal cut length or the minimal average cut height (L0, L1 norm respectively). However, there are expected local cut lengths and directions, that depend on the topography and the acquisition geometry. The knowledge of the cut statistics helps PU techniques. So far, the parametric model

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f ∆ φ rg

101 100

SNR SNR

-10 -10dB dB 00dB dB 77dB dB

10-1

∞∞

10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 -14

-12

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∆φ Figure 8: PG PDF measured in a (simulated) noisy interferogram for different values of SNR. Shadowed areas lead to the probability of aliasing.

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PG: aliasing probability 0.05

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0.04 0.03

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0.02 0.01 50

100

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Baseline [m] Figure 9: PG aliasing probability for the case of flat earth compensation and for the optimized flattening proposed in the paper.

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PG PDF 0.025

Baseline: Baseline: 100 100mm 150 150mm 200 200mm

$# $#

0.02 0.015 0.01 0.005 0

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# of range lines averaged

Figure 10: Azimuth PG aliasing probability for different presumming ratios and baselines. Simulated ERS interferometry in the area of Naples. for PG PDF is suited to compute the average number of cuts, here we will find a suitable approximation for the expected cut length and direction. Let ∆φ be the component of PG along a specific direction. The average cut length, Lm is the ratio between the probability of aliasing: P (|∆φ| > π), and the spatial density λπ of π crossings: E [P (∆φ > π)] E [P (∆φ < −π)] + 2λπ 2λπ E [P (|∆φ| > π)] = 2λπ

Lm =

(15)

The computation of the density of π crossings is a rather complicated task in a general case. However for a Normal, zero mean process it is possible relate λπ to the second order statistics of the process [10]: s   1 −r00 (0) π2 λπ = exp − (16) π r(0) 2r(0) where the P G autocorrelation and its second order derivative in the origin, r(0) and r00 (0) can be computed by assuming the proper fractal power-law for the P G P SD. The average cut length that results by combining (15) and (16) can be estimated in different directions, hence providing information on the average cut direction. As an example, Fig. 11 shows the cuts (values for which |∆φr | > π or |∆φa | > π) in a synthetic interferogram of Mt. Vesuvius (Bn=400 m). The average cut length has been computed, for each direction, by applying (15) and (16) and compared with that measured starting from the absolute PG values: the result is plotted in Fig. 12. The predicted value is always within the estimate one ±σL /2 (σL being the variance of the cut length): despite the approximations involved, the model and the data crossings statistics fit well with the proper spectral estimate.

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Figure 11: Wrapped synthetic phases simulating an ERS interferogram (Bn=400 m, 4 azimuth looks) achieved by exploiting the DEM of Mt. Vesuvius. The cuts, e.g. the values for which the range or the azimuth P G is in absolute value > π, have been marked in black.

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Average cut length 7 Predicted Measured +σ/2 Measured −σ/2

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Figure 12: Average cut length predicted by the multi-fractal model as a function of the direction. The circles marks the measures of the average cut length ± an interval equal to half its variance.

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3

Acknowledgments

The author would thanks Dr. Alessandro Ferretti (Tele-Rilevamento Europa), who provided the introduction to PU techniques and motivated the paper, and M. Ronchi who provided the computer simulations.

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Conclusions

The modelling of earth topography by stochastic multi-fractal fields provides valuable information on the interferogram statistics. At a first instance, a parametric model for the PG PDF has been derived. Once that the parameters are retrieved by fitting the interferogram (the wrapped phase) PSD, the model is capable to predict the PDF of the unwrapped PG. This model has been exploited for simple and useful applications, like the determination of the optimal interferogram flattening and the best azimuth presumming. Notice that the optimal flattening does not correspond to the compensation of flat earth, due to the highly asymmetric feature of the PG PDF. The use of an optimal flattening can lead up to a 50% reduction is the number of singular points for some topographies / baselines. Furthermore, the statistic of cuts, namely its mean length and direction has been derived and partly validated. The ultimate goal is an optimal phase unwrapping technique, not based on the minimization of any specific norm. It should be based on a characterization of the reflectance model, dependent on topography statistics, and also on local reflectivity, vegetation, height, geological structure of rocks, and in general geomorphology.

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References [1] Andrew K Gabriel and Richard M Goldstein. Crossed orbit interferometry: theory and experimental results from SIR-B. Int.J. Remote Sensing, 9(5):857–872, 1988. [2] Fuk K Li and R M Goldstein. Studies of multibaseline spaceborne interferometric synthetic aperture radars. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 28(1):88–97, January 1990. [3] Richard Bamler and Philipp Hartl. Synthetic aperture radar interferometry. Inverse Problems, 14:R1–R54, 1998. [4] Paul Rosen, Scott Hensley, Ian R Joughin, Fuk K Li, Søren Madsen, Ernesto Rodr´ıguez, and Richard Goldstein. Synthetic aperture radar interferometry. Proceedings of the IEEE, 88(3):333–382, March 2000. [5] Dennis C Ghiglia and Mark D Pritt. Two-dimensional phase unwrapping: theory, algorithms, and software. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York, 1998. [6] C W Chen and H A Zebker. Phase unwrapping for large SAR interferograms: statistical segmentation and generalized network models. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 40(8):1709 –1719, August 2002. [7] F A Vening Meinesz. A remarkable feature of the earth’s topography, origin of continents and oceans. Proceedings Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie Van Wetenschappen Series B Physical Science, 54:220–229, 1951. [8] Andrea Monti Guarnieri. SAR interferometry and statistical topography. IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 40(12):2567–2581, December 2002. [9] Umberto Spagnolini. 2–D phase unwrapping and instantaneous frequency estimation. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 33(3):579–589, May 1995. [10] Athanasios Papoulis. Probability, Random variables, and stochastic processes. McGraw-Hill series in Electrical Engineering. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1991. [11] Andrea Monti Guarnieri, Paolo Biancardi, Davide D’Aria, and Fabio Rocca. Accurate and robust baseline estimation. In Second International Workshop on ERS SAR Interferometry, ‘FRINGE99’, Li`ege, Belgium, 10–12 Nov 1999. ESA, 1999. [12] D Schertzer and S Lovejoy. On the dimension of atmospheric motions. In Turbulence and Chaotic phenomena in fluids, chapter 5, page 505. Ed. T. Tatsumi, Elsevier North Holland, New York, 1984. [13] W Feller. An introduction to probability theory and its applications. New York, 1971. [14] Daniel Lavall´ee, Shaun Lovejoy, Daniel Schertzer, and Philippe Ladoy. Nonlinear variability of landscape topography: multifractal analysis and simulation. In L De Cola and N Lam, editors, Fractals in Geography, chapter 8, pages 158–192. Prentice Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ, 1993.

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FIGURE CAPTIONS Fig. 1. Above: simulated interferogram of Mt. Vesuvius, by assuming ERS-ENVISAT geometry. Below: (left) the DEM used for the simulation, (right) the DEM can be approximated locally as a complex sinusoid. Tab. 1. Acronyms and parameters adopted in the paper. Fig. 2. Simplified InSAR geometry. Fig. 3. Comparison between the range PG PDF, measured on a synthetic (non wrapped) interferograms phase (area of Naples) and its approximation, derived by transforming the range slope PDF Fig. 4. Universal Multi Fractal Field (above), and the result after fractional integration (below). This stochastic fractal provides a realistic DEM resemblance. Fig. 5. Residues due to noise and phase unwrapping. The pyramid in (a) has been converted into wrapped phases, and then noise was superimposed. The resulting interferogram has then been filtered, giving the phases in (b). The residues have then been identified and marked as black / white pixels in (c) (depending on the sign). The sole two residues due to topography are evidenced by arrows, all the other residues are due to noise and appear in close pairs (one of these pairs has been marked by a white circle). Fig. 6 (Left): the circles mark residues (or group of residues) measured on an interferogram simulated form the true DEM of Mt. Etna. (Right): the correct location of the ghost lines, as would appear on the unwrapped phase. The correct direction and length of ghost lines can be found only by accounting for topography statistics. Fig. 7. Plots of the PG PDF measured on a synthetic fringe pattern of the Mt. Vesuvius (ERS InSAR geometry), compared with its parametric estimate derived by the (wrapped) interferogram, continuous line. The PG in the horizontal axis has been compensated for flat earth. The shaded areas measure the probability of aliasing. The PG values on the far left corresponds to layover. Fig. 8. PG PDF measured in a (simulated) noisy interferogram for different values of SNR. Shadowed areas lead to the probability of aliasing. Fig. 9. PG aliasing probability for the case of flat earth compensation and for the optimized flattening proposed in the paper. Fig. 10. Azimuth PG aliasing probability for different presumming ratios and baselines. Simulated ERS interferometry in the area of Naples. Fig. 11 Wrapped synthetic phases simulating an ERS interferogram (Bn=400 m, 4 azimuth looks) achieved by exploiting the DEM of Mt. Vesuvius. The cuts, e.g. the values for which the range or the azimuth P G is in absolute value > π, have been marked in black. Fig. 12. Average cut length predicted by the multi-fractal model as a function of the direction. The circles marks the measures of the average cut length ± an interval equal to half its variance.

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